


Blind Spots

by Keibey



Series: you are the angel I chained to the ground [3]
Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 12:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7845400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keibey/pseuds/Keibey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were a lot of things Inaho didn't expect to see in Slaine's room, and this would probably be fairly high on the hypothetical list.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blind Spots

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Himmelreich](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Himmelreich/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, Rei-chan! (ﾉ✧ヮ✧)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ Enjoy the dumb boys bonding over beating each other up, now with slightly better flow.
> 
> Can be read as a missing scene somewhere within Caged Bird.

Inaho blinked at the frozen tableau before him. A second passed before the standing guard gave him a textbook salute, and the one pressed face down on the ground tapped the fingers of a free hand against the tile with a guilty look. Slaine just seemed unimpressed.

“Their close combat is abysmal,” the blond said bluntly, shifting in a way that made the man pinned underneath the blond grunt in pain.

“I’ll send them in for a refresher.” Inaho watched the two guards’ expression twist into a grimace at the same time, in sync.

Slaine released the man and stood, arms crossed. “I doubt it would help.”

“The course is comprehensive; they just didn’t pay attention.” A pale eyebrow arched at him dubiously, and Inaho shrugged off his suit jacket, hanging it on the back of a chair. “If you want to test it, I can be your opponent.”

“I’m not going to fight you.” There was nothing but indifference on Slaine’s face, but Inaho could hear slight tension in the voice.

“It’s not fighting, it’s sparring.” The green eyes broke contact and slid a bit to the left, and Inaho finally understood the hesitation. He automatically touched his eyepatch. “I’ve gotten used to it.”

“If you’re that eager to lose,” the blond sighed, and the guard who had been sitting on the floor, loosening the twisted shoulder, scrambled up and out of the way. Slaine dropped into a ready stance, watching Inaho expectantly.

He shrugged. “I don’t plan on losing.”

Inaho’s first thought was  _ merciless _ as Slaine came at him without warning, quick and aiming for his left side. He brought his arm up in time only because he was expecting an approach to the obvious opening in his blind side, the impact solid. Their eyes met as Inaho pushed the offending arm down to the side and drove his elbow towards Slaine’s face. It never connected, Slaine melting out of range just as quickly as the blond had approached. There was a glint of amusement in the green eyes, a nonverbal challenge.

He pressed forward to grab for a throw, but the blond knocked his hand away with a swiftness that suited prey better than predator. A quick punch that had to be muscle memory forced Inaho back, widening the distance between them again so that he could see the upwards quirk of Slaine’s lips.

It was all he saw before Slaine spun into a roundhouse kick that should have overbalanced the blond, but Inaho had no sooner blocked it when Slaine dropped to finish the sinuous twist in a low sweep. It took an undignified hop to avoid getting his legs knocked out from under him, but he took the forward momentum to roll past, reaching out to pull one of Slaine’s arms from their precarious balance. Slaine wavered for a second before the arm was wrenched back, and Inaho met the green eyes with a slight smirk of his own as they both stood, circling.

The sight of Slaine’s grin, a mischievous flash of teeth, almost distracted Inaho from the quick snap of a backfist. Inaho blocked the swing a hair’s breadth from his face, but Slaine was still turning, and he tilted his head over to his left in alarm, seeing the other hand snaking out fast from where it had been hidden by his blind spot. For a split second Inaho couldn’t move, the air rushed painfully out of his lungs.

It was enough; Slaine’s hand was around his wrist, the other on his elbow, and he felt the torque through the pain in his entire arm as he was thrown to the ground. A forearm was quickly pressed threateningly over his throat, knee braced over his still stinging solar plexus and his free hand pinned with one of Slaine’s own.

“You’re used to it, but you still can’t see.” Slaine was panting from the exertion, breath warm against Inaho’s face. He made a mental note to check on the blond’s cardio exercises. “Why do they even let you wander around without a security detail?”

“It draws attention,” he answered quietly, keeping his breathing shallow and steady against the strain. Slaine shifted off of him, sitting back on his heels - it would be easy to unbalance the blond now, but Inaho discarded the thought. “I don’t enjoy small talk.”

Slaine rolled his eyes. “You  _ would _ be the kind to forgo security because you can’t socialize.” The blond stood, offering a hand to Inaho. He took it and let himself be heaved to his feet.

“You’re intense.”

“Vers is based on militarism.” Slaine shrugged, the green eyes sliding to the side. “It has a very different atmosphere than here.”

Inaho nodded, having picked up by now it was another one of the blond’s understatements about his life on Vers. “I packed a lunch for you, since you were curious.”

“I believe I said ‘terrify me with your cooking,’” Slaine said flatly, but followed him out of the room anyway.

He noticed the guards staring at him with an odd expression as he passed, and paused long enough to say, “I’ll enroll you both for a refresher course after your shifts tomorrow.”

“Yes sir.” They both snapped to attention with a salute, still looking at him with the same wide-eyed look. Inaho gave a mental shrug and left them behind. The food was going to get cold.


End file.
